A PATH ANALYSIS OF THE HEALTHCARE UTILIZATION AND SERVICES SATISFACTION AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING INDIVIDUALS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY IN MALAYSIA

Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 2025 · DOI: 10.2340/jrm.v57.40621 · Published: February 25, 2025

Spinal Cord Injury Patient Experience Healthcare

Simple Explanation

This study looked at how people with spinal cord injuries in Malaysia use healthcare services and how satisfied they are with these services. The most common healthcare providers they visited were specialists in rehabilitation, physiotherapists, and primary care doctors. Overall, people with spinal cord injuries in Malaysia were quite satisfied with the healthcare services.

Study Duration

17 months

Participants

285 participants with spinal cord injury

Evidence Level

Cross-sectional study

Key Findings

1
Health problems predicted healthcare utilization, while activity limitation and participation restriction predicted healthcare services satisfaction.
2
The activity limitation and participation restriction in male participants was moderated by the spinal cord injury severity and health problems.
3
Individuals with spinal cord injury in Malaysia rely heavily on physical and rehabilitation medicine specialists.

Research Summary

This study is the first in Malaysia to successfully employ a path analysis model in investigating HCU and HCSS among individuals with SCI. First, the HCU was predicted by health problems, which in turn was predicted by the SCI severity. Second, HCSS was predicted by ALPR, which in turn was predicted by the SCI severity.

Practical Implications

Decentralizing Rehabilitation Services

Empowering primary care providers to deliver community-based care to improve accessibility and alleviate the shortage of rehabilitation professionals.

Strengthening Public-Private Partnerships

PPP is crucial for improving health provision and coverage.

Addressing Sexual Dysfunction

Promote a multidisciplinary approach to providing proactive and comprehensive sexual rehabilitation care.

Study Limitations

1
Absence of a national SCI registry prevented the use of a predefined sampling frame, necessitating the reliance on convenience sampling, which may introduce self-selection bias.
2
Participating institutions were all situated in urban areas, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to the broader SCI population in Malaysia.
3
Cross-sectional nature of this study, it is not possible to draw causal inferences from the findings.

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